I recently returned a 32" Hitachi to Argos as I thought the quality was very poor.

I decided to return it after reading some reports that Hitachi don't make flat screen TVs any more, and that they have sold their name off to the cheap brands to allow them to use it.

I searched the TV high and low, and there was no 'MADE IN ??' on it anywhere. People had told me to look out for that. Also, the TV I bought was not on Hitachis US, UK, Euro or Japanese sites. If they made it, you'd think it would be!!

Not trying to talk you lot out of buying this TV, just passing on my experiences.

People do realise that contrasts ratios aren't comparable as everyone measures it differently?

pspr33

You guys need to read up on contrast ratios.

Not that any of you will see a difference between them if you're having to ask if 'it's a bit crap'. Numbers aren't everything.

Agreed guys,

It seems like contrast ratio has become the most overhyped and misleading data when it comes to televisions. A 1000:1 contrast ratio means a perfectly white pixel is 1000 times brighter than a perfectly black pixel at least I think it works like that. Anyways this data is hard to calculate and are subjected to all sorts of interpretation. 'Ultimately, contrast ratio has become little more than marketing-speak, and the numbers are now largely meaningless'. 'Things have gotten out of control to the point where various vendors have claimed 1,000,000:1 contrast ratios. It's getting to the point where escalating contrast ratios are now an industry joke, though not a very funny one.'

'Gizmodo has an extensive piece on the topic, which rightly points out that high contrast ratios don't mean high brightness. Rather, companies have focused more recently on decreasing the brightness of the "1" side: making the blacks blacker instead of the whites whiter. As the post notes, "Cutting the darkest dark on a screen by .5 effectively doubles the contrast ratio." In comparing an 8000:1 TV to a 1000:1 TV, you're probably looking at a TV that the manufacturer claims has richer, truer blacks.

Of course, it may not. The numbers could be calculated differently, inflated, who knows. You'll need an independent source (probably from a high-end home theater publication) to get a real sense of a TV set's contrast, but even then the numbers probably wouldn't be very meaningful because of the difficulties in performing such a test.

My advice to you is below.

Ignore manufacturer's contrast levels and focus instead on how a TV looks to your eyes, whether it has the connections you need, and if it's the right size for your room.

It seems like contrast ratio has become the most overhyped and misleading data when it comes to televisions. A 1000:1 contrast ratio means a perfectly white pixel is 1000 times brighter than a perfectly black pixel at least I think it works like that. Anyways this data is hard to calculate and are subjected to all sorts of interpretation. 'Ultimately, contrast ratio has become little more than marketing-speak, and the numbers are now largely meaningless'. 'Things have gotten out of control to the point where various vendors have claimed 1,000,000:1 contrast ratios. It's getting to the point where escalating contrast ratios are now an industry joke, though not a very funny one.'

'Gizmodo has an extensive piece on the topic, which rightly points out that high contrast ratios don't mean high brightness. Rather, companies have focused more recently on decreasing the brightness of the "1" side: making the blacks blacker instead of the whites whiter. As the post notes, "Cutting the darkest dark on a screen by .5 effectively doubles the contrast ratio." In comparing an 8000:1 TV to a 1000:1 TV, you're probably looking at a TV that the manufacturer claims has richer, truer blacks.

Of course, it may not. The numbers could be calculated differently, inflated, who knows. You'll need an independent source (probably from a high-end home theater publication) to get a real sense of a TV set's contrast, but even then the numbers probably wouldn't be very meaningful because of the difficulties in performing such a test.

My advice to you is below.

Ignore manufacturer's contrast levels and focus instead on how a TV looks to your eyes, whether it has the connections you need, and if it's the right size for your room.

Bought this last time it was on sale at Argos. Its the best TV i have ever bought, even better than the £700 LG i have downstairs, I use mine for watching films and playing Xbox 360 and the picture is stunning, really didnt expect it but boy am i happy with thw Hitachi.

Bought this last time it was on sale at Argos. Its the best TV i have ever bought, even better than the £700 LG i have downstairs, I use mine for watching films and playing Xbox 360 and the picture is stunning, really didnt expect it but boy am i happy with thw Hitachi.

I bought this telly when it was on sale last time at this price as well at first was very impressed. Was good for ps3 but anything grey looks very redy coloured and the picture could not be compared to a top brand(sony,LG,sharp,tosh) the epg is the same one you get in really cheap no brand tvs and mine had a technical fault and used to crash while changing channel was constantly having to power off and on. After an engineer called and confirmed it was faulty still took me hours on the phone for them to agree to let me take it back after the engineer said it would be 30days plus to fix. I’m now trying to decide on the 42” tosh or 40” Samsung both around this price.

Seems to get favourable reviews on the website but after looking for a new tv/checking specs/reading reviews i'm more confused than ever :oops: Is this the best for the money or are they're better sets below 500 quidish? Going to mainly use it linked up to a 360. Any replies will be appreciated before i dive in and buy it. Ta

Theres 2 types of contrast ratio. Anything around 1000:1 or 4000 :1 is the real figure and the only one that matters to me at least. The very high ones like 80,000:1 are gained thru dynamic dimming of the backlight in dark scenes and look rubbish to me as the screen suddendly dims way down when the telly decides its best and looks very obvious. As i say the real number without the dynamic thingy turned on is around 1000, or 4000 to one. Its hard to find the real numbers these days so i dunno what the good ones are doing now. This doesnt apply to plasmas which can naturally do the high ratios.

Thanks, 50 people in the queue before I at Leeds this Morning, all gone. Thanks anyway.

Yes I also wasted valuable time in a long queue after arriving before opening time today...I only saw one purchase of the 40 inch Samsung so thought it worth the wait as surely they had more than one in stock...yes you've guessed that was what I discovered when I was informed out of stock.....it's just a con to get you into the store hoping you'll buy another not so good deal....never again.

Yes I also wasted valuable time in a long queue after arriving before opening time today...I only saw one purchase of the 40 inch Samsung so thought it worth the wait as surely they had more than one in stock...yes you've guessed that was what I discovered when I was informed out of stock.....it's just a con to get you into the store hoping you'll buy another not so good deal....never again.

never again, will stick to the joys of hkud and on-line reservation facilities in the future :roll:

I bought this a few months ago when it was £399 and it very nice and i've said it before I have seen other tvs that cost more and this looks more nice than some of them, sky hd looks nice on it and blu ray do aswell, the sound on it is nice aswell :)

I got one of these from Curry's to replace a dodgy older model I had and I have to say it is superb! There was a deal from Dell a few weeks ago selling them for about £430 and they are well worth the money.

Yes I also wasted valuable time in a long queue after arriving before opening time today...I only saw one purchase of the 40 inch Samsung so thought it worth the wait as surely they had more than one in stock...yes you've guessed that was what I discovered when I was informed out of stock.....it's just a con to get you into the store hoping you'll buy another not so good deal....never again.

LOL

You have no idea, you have to realise that even if it shows as out of stock, there are 15 more sat out back that people have reserved online. Along with all the other thousands of items in the same stock room there simply isn't space to stock 100 of the same 40" tv. It isn't a tardis, its a stockroom.

Argos owns Homebase. I got mine the same day as you and again argos delivered it, though bought from homebase online.

I asked a homebase shop assistant why they didn;t have any in store as I wanted to look at mine before delivery, the answer was they stopped selling TVs instore because of numerous theft. I found the fact a big store get beaten (having to give up selling TVs) by small thieves very funny, lol, though not the theft, of course.